Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 384 BC and lived until 322 BC. He was a Greek philosopher and scientist,

who shares with Plato being considered the most famous of ancient philosophers. He was born at

Stagira, in Macedonia, the son of a physician to the royal court. When he was 17, he went to Athens

to study at Plato's Academy. He stayed for about 20 years, as a student and then as a teacher.

When Plato died in 347 BC, Aristotle moved to Assos, a city in Asia Minor, where a friend

of his named Hermias was the ruler. He counseled Hermias and married his niece and adopted

daughter, Pythias (wierd names, huh). After Hermias was captured and executed by the Persians,

Aristotle went to Pella, Macedonia's capital, and became the tutor of the king's young son

Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great. In 335, when Alexander became king, Aristotle

went back to Athens and established his own school, the Lyceum.

20 px

Portrait of Aristoteles. Pentelic marble, copy of ...

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio...

Since a lot of the lessons

happenned when teachers and students were walking, it was nicknamed the Peripatetic school

(Peripatetic means walking). When Alexander died in 323 BC, strong anti-Macedonian feeling

was felt in Athens, and Aristotle went to a family estate in Euboea. He died there the following

year.

Aristotle, like Plato, used his dialogue in his beginning years at the Academy. Apart from a

few fragments in the works of later writers, his dialogues have been wholly lost. Aristotle also wrote

some short technical writings, including a dictionary of philosophic terms and a summary of the

"doctrines of Pythagoras" (the guy from the Pythagorean Theorem). Of these, only a few short pieces

have survived. Still in good shape, though, are Aristotle's lecture notes for carefully outlined courses

treating almost every type of knowledge and art. The...